The Dallas Cowboys will be playing for the NFC East championship in Week 17 without their starting quarterback. ESPN's Adam Schefter reports the back injury that Tony Romo suffered in Sunday's season-saving win at Washington would keep him out for their regular-season finale and the playoffs, if the Cowboys advance there. That means Kyle Orton will get the nod in Sunday night's home game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

ESPN's Christ Mortensen later reported that Romo has a herniated disc and will need surgery.

Romo was able to grind through and play through the injury, leading the Cowboys over the Redskins 24-23 after his team trailed 23-14 in the fourth quarter. As much heat as Romo has gotten for some of his mistakes this season, his play has been efficient overall. He's thrown only 10 interceptions to go with his 31 touchdown passes for 3,838 yards for a stellar 96.7 passer rating. With Romo out and Orton playing, the Cowboys should want to lean on healthy running back DeMarco Murray more in their biggest game of 2013.

The Eagles have the better record at 9-6, but the Cowboys at 8-7, hold the current tiebreaker with a previous head-to-head win. But without Romo and its major defensive issues, Dallas is in a tough position to try to win that game with their backup passer dueling red-hot NIck Foles in what could be a shootout.

The Cowboys reportedly will workout free-agent quarterbacks John Skelton and David Carr Tuesday.